How to Be a Better Project Manager

A better title for this book would have been "Get Quickly Started in Project Management" because this book provides one of the clearest pictures of what project management is all about, and how to become a successful project manager. That the author manages to accomplish this in less than 160 pages, without leaving anything important out, is a remarkable accomplishment.Although I've long since mastered the material that is presented (many lessons the hard way through mistakes), I still found it valuable. First, it refocused me on the real issues, such as stakeholder management and customer (end user) satisfaction, and second, it allowed me to step back and see the big picture. Even experienced project managers sometimes get so caught up in details, challenges and politics that a glimpse of the basics is refreshing. More importantly, this book is one of the few that I would recommend to new project managers or those who are about to be thrust into that role without hesitation.Highlights include:- discussion of good leadership principles and teamwork in practical terms- one of the best approaches to attaining customer satisfaction (the material doesn't contain anything new, but hits the key points and uses common sense instead of dancing around the issues with theory and rhetoric)- collected best practice techniques (project logs, work breakdown structures, risk management and resource management)- how to manage conflicts and issuesThe best feature is that this book is short, filled with common sense and breaks the art and science of project management down into easily digested pieces. While you won't learn the more advanced techniques, you will certainly get a solid education in the basics upon which to build as you gain experience.